Why do women always seem to have so much muscle tightness and pain in their hips? Sure, there are many physiological explanations: wearing high heels, carrying children, etc. But maybe there is another possible factor involved: we don't show them enough love. In fact, from the time we are barely teenagers, most of us have learned to loathe or at least dislike these parts of our bodies. How many times have you said, “God, I hate my butt!” or “I wish my hips would just go away.”? You know what they say about chocolate: once on the lips, forever on the hips. Maybe the same applies to our words. Every time we say something nasty about a body part, some of that hate gets transferred into the cells of that part in the form of tension, knots and chronic pain.
How do we rectify the situation? By learning to love all of our parts lumps, bumps and cellulite.
Check out this wonderful, empowering poem by Lucille Clifton. Embrace it. Listen to the story of your own hips and let them sing. They are feminine, they are powerful, they are beautiful.
Yes, the hips are very often overlooked by both clients and therapists. I think part of it is also due to social taboo about touching the hips and buttocks.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a good point, Ben. Sadly, some spas even have policies against working the glutes to avoid any perceptions of impropriety.
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